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The History of the Serbs (Serbian: Историја српског народа) spans from the first mention of the people by Roman historians to present.

Serbs (Срби, Srbi) are a South Slavic people who live mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia. They are also a significant minority in the Republic of Macedonia. A Serbian diaspora dispersed people of Serbian descent to Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the United States, Canada and Slovenia.

Contents

The Slavs invaded Balkans during Justinian I rule (527–565), when eventually up to 100,000 Slavs raided Thessalonica. The Western Balkans was settled with "Sclaveni", the east with Antes.[1] Archaeological evidence in Serbia and Macedonia conclude that the White Serbs may have reached the Balkans earlier, between 550-600, as much findings; fibulae and pottery found at Roman forts point at Serb characteristics.[2] and thus could have been a fraction of the early invading Slavs who upon organizing in their refuge of the Dinaric region, formed the ethnogenesis of Serbs and were pardoned by the Byzantine Empire after acknowledging their suzerainty.

Daurentius was a Sclavene chieftain (577-579) who, because of the earlier raids on Byzantine territory was targeted by the Avars to accept suzerainty and pay tribute to the Khagan. Daurentius rejected and killed the envoy sent by the khagan. He structured the Sclavene communities into tribes (political units) that acted on their own behalf.[3][4]

"The Serbs are descended from the unbaptized Serbs, also called 'white', who live beyond Turkey in a place called by them Boiki, where their neighbour is Francia, as is also Great Croatia, the unbaptized, also called 'white': in this place, then, these Serbs also originally dwelt. But when two brothers succeeded their father in the rule of Serbia, one of them, taking a moiety of the folk, claimed the protection of Heraclius, the emperor of the Romans, and the same emperor Heraclius received him and gave him a place in the province of Thessalonica to settle in, namely Serbia, which from that time has acquired this denomination."......"Now, after some time these same Serbs decided to depart to their own homes, and the emperor sent them off. But when they had crossed the river Danube, they changed their minds and sent a request to the emperor Heraclius, through the military governor then governing Belgrade, that he would grant them other land to settle in."......"And since what is now Rascia (Serbia) and Pagania and the so-called country of the Zachlumi and Trebounia and the country of the Kanalites were under the dominion of the emperor of the Romans, and since these countries had been made desolate by the Avars (for they had expelled from those parts the Romans who now live in Dalmatia and Dyrrachium), therefore the emperor settled these same Serbs in these countries, and they were subject to the emperor of the Romans; and the emperor brought elders from Rome and baptized them and taught them fairly to perform the works of piety and expounded to them the faith of the Christians."......"And since Bulgaria was beneath the dominion of the Romans * * * when, therefore, that same Serbian prince died who had claimed the emperor's protection, his son ruled in succession, and thereafter his grandson, and in like manner the succeeding princes from his family"...

In 680, the Byzantine Emperor forcefully settled Anatolia with 30,000 Serb prisoners in a city called Gordoservon (City of the Serbs), in ancient Phrygia, where they would be part of the Byzantine army against the Umayyads, they had a battle in Sebastopolis in 692, the Serbs, however, defected after Umayyud persuasion, the Serbs left the army because of bad treatment and the Byzantines lost.[7] (see Asia Minor Slavs)

"...Sorabi, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur..."transl. "Serbs, who inhabit a large part of Dalmatia"

In 822, The Frankish chronicler Einhardt accounts that the "Serbs, which nation inhabits a large part of Dalmatia" ("Sorabi, quae natio magnam Dalmatiae partem obtinere dicitur") and also the protection of the Pannonian Slav ruler Ljudevit Posavski at the hands of the Serbs (Serbia) to the east.

The first war between Bulgarians and Serbs took place between 839 and 842. According to Byzantine sources both peoples co-existed peacefully until Bulgarian attacks in the Macedonia region.[8]

The Serbian tribes, who were pagan (Slavic Mythology) came in immediate contact with Christianity when arriving at the Balkans: the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII recounts that they were initially baptized by "elders" from Rome, however Byzantine Cyril and Methodius from Constantinople are the missionaries that are venerated as the baptists. The process of Christianization is held to have been completed by 870, when Greek (Byzantine) and Theophoric given names became permanent tradition in Serbian culture. A Serbian bishopric may have been founded in Ras in 871 by Serbian Knez Mutimir, confirmed by the Council of Constantinople in 879-80.[10]

At times, the Serbs struggled to gain independence from the Byzantines. The acceptance of Imperial authority and alliance in early Serb history can be seen in the Serbian tribes' alliance with the Byzantine Emperor Basil I the Macedonian and Louis the Younger against the Saracens (Arabs) in fl. 869-871.[9]

The most powerful Serb states were Rascia and Doclea, that started breaking away from the Byzantine Empire in the late 10th and early 11th centuries, after Serbian rulers took power by force from the local Byzantine governors. The Serbs became more powerful under Saint Sava, who became the first head of the Serb Orthodox Church and his brother Stefan Prvovencani who was made son-in-law (sebastokrator) to Emperor Alexios III Angelos after marrying Eudokia Angelina, thus ensuring the autonomy of Serbia and continuing loyalty to the Byzantine Empire. At the time, Serbia did not exist as a state of that name but was rather the region inhabited and ruled by the Serbs; its kings and tsars were called the "King of the Serbs" referring to lands where the Serbs lived. The medieval Serbian state is nonetheless often, albeit anachronistically, referred to as "Serbia".

Serbia experienced its golden age under the House of Nemanjic, with the Serbian state reaching its apogee of power in the reign of Tsar Stefan Uros Dusan, when the Serbian Empire dominated the Balkans. Serbia's power subsequently dwindled amid interminable conflict between the nobility, rendering the country unable to resist the steady incursion of the Ottoman Empire into south-eastern Europe. The Battle of Kosovo in 1389 is commonly regarded in Serbian national mythology as the key event in the country's defeat by the Turks, although in fact Ottoman rule was not fully imposed until some time later. After Serbia fell, the kings of Bosnia used the title of "King of the Serbs" until Bosnia was also overrun.

De administrando imperio
32. Of the Serbs and of the country they now dwell in.

The Serbs are descended from the unbaptized Serbs, also called 'white', who live beyond Turkey in a place called by them Boiki, where their neighbour is Francia, as is also Great Croatia, the unbaptized, also called 'white': in this place, then, these Serbs also originally dwelt. But when two brothers succeeded their father in the rule of Serbia, one of them, taking a moiety of the folk, claimed the protection of Heraclius, the emperor of the Romans, and the same emperor Heraclius received him and gave him a place in the province of Thessalonica to settle in, namely Serbia, which from that time has acquired this denomination. 'Serbs' in the tongue of the Romans is the word for 'slaves', whence the colloquial 'serbula' for menial shoes, and 'tzerboulianoi' for those who wear cheap, shoddy footgear. This name the Serbs acquired from their being slaves of the emperor of the Romans. Now, after some time these same Serbs decided to depart to their own homes, and the emperor sent them off. But when they had crossed the river Danube, they changed their minds and sent a request to the emperor Heraclius, through the military governor then governing Belgrade, that he would grant them other land to settle in. And since what is now Serbia and Pagania and the so-called country of the Zachlumi and Terbounia and the country of the Kanalites were under the dominion of the emperor of the Romans, and since these countries had been made desolate by the Avars (for they had expelled from those parts the Romani who now live in Dalmatia and Dyrrachium), therefore the emperor settled these same Serbs in these countries, and they were subject to the emperor of the Romans; and the emperor brought elders from Rome and baptized them and taught them fairly to perform the works of piety and expounded to them the faith of the Christians. And since Bulgaria was beneath the dominion of the Romans * * * when, therefore, that same Serbian prince died who had claimed the emperor's protection, his son ruled in succession, and thereafter his grandson, and in like manner the succeeding princes from his family.

And after some years was begotten of them Boiseslav, and of him Rodoslav, and of him Prosigois, and of him Blastimer; and up to the time of this Blastimer the Bulgarians lived at peace with the Serbs, whose neighbours they were and with whom they had a common frontier, and they were friendly one toward another, and were in servitude and submission to the emperors of the Romans and kindly entreated by thorn. But, during the rule of this same Blastimer, Presiam, prince of Bulgaria, came with war against the Serbs, with intent to reduce them to submission ; but though he fought them three years he not merely achieved nothing but also lost very many of his men. After the death of prince Blastimer his three sons, Muntimer and Stroimer and Goinikos, succeeded to the rule of Serbia and divided up the country. In their time came up the prince of Bulgaria, Michael Boris, wishing to avenge the defeat of his father Presiam, and made war, and the Serbs discomfited him to such an extent that they even held prisoner his son Vladimer. together with twelve great boyars. Then, out of grief for his son, Boris perforce made peace with the Serbs. But, being about to return to Bulgaria and afraid lest the Serbs might ambush him on the way, he begged for his escort the sons of prince Muntimer, Borenas and Stephen, who escorted him safely as far as the frontier at Rasi. For this favour Michael Boris gave them handsome presents, and they in return gave him, as presents in the way of friendship, two slaves, two falcons, two dogs and eighty furs, which the Bulgarians describe as tribute. A short while after, the same three brothers, the princes of Serbia, fell out, and one of them, Muntimer, gained the upper hand and, wishing to he sole ruler, seized the other two and handed them over to Bulgaria, keeping by him and caring for only the son of the one brother Goinikos, Peter by name, who fled and came to Croatia, and of whom we shall speak in a moment. The aforesaid brother Stroimer, who was in Bulgaria, had a son Klonimer, to whom Boris gave a Bulgarian wife. Of him was begotten Tzeeslav, in Bulgaria. Muntimer, who had expelled his two brothers and taken the rule, begat three sons, Pribeslav and Branos and Stephen, and after he died his eldest son Pribeslav succeeded him.

Now, after one year the aforesaid Peter, son of Goinikos, came out of Croatia and expelled from the rule his cousin Pribeslav and his two brothers, and himself succeeded to the rule, and they fled away and entered Croatia. Three years later Branos came to fight Peter and was defeated and captured by him, and blinded. Two years after that, Klonimer, the father of Tzeeslav, escaped from Bulgaria and he too came and with an army and entered one of the cities of Serbia, Dostinika, with intent to take over the rule. Peter attacked and slew him, and continued to govern for another 20 years, and his rule began during the reign of Leo, the holy emperor, of most blessed memory, to whom he was in submission and servitude. He also made peace with Symeon, prince of Bulgaria, and even made him god-father to his child. Now, after the time that this lord Leo had reigned, the then military governor at Dyrrachium, the protospatharius Leo Rhabduchus, who was afterwards honoured with the rank of magister and office of foreign minister, arrived in Pagania, which was at that time under the control of the prince of Serbia, in order to advise and confer with this same prince Peter upon some service and affair. Michael, prince of the Zachlumi, his jealousy aroused by this, sent information to Symeon, prince of Bulgaria, that the emperor of the Romans was bribing prince Peter to take the Turks with him and go upon Bulgaria. It was at that time when the battle of Achelo had taken place between the Romans and the Bulgarians. Symeon, mad with rage at this, sent against prince Peter of Serbia Sigritzis Theodore and the notorious Marmais with an army, and they took with them also the young prince Paul, son of Branos whom Peter, prince of Serbia, had blinded. The Bulgarians proceeded against the prince of Serbia by treachery, and, by binding him with the relationship of god-father and giving a sworn undertaking that he should suffer nothing untoward at their hands, they tricked him into coming out to them, and then on the instant bound him and carried him off to Bulgaria, and he died in prison. Paul, son of Branos, entered into his room and governed three years. The emperor, the lord Romanus, who had in Constantinople the young prince Zacharias, son of Pribeslav, prince of Serbia, sent him off to be prince in Serbia, and he went and fought, but was defeated by Paul; who took him prisoner and handed him over to the Bulgarians and he was kept in prison. Then, three years later, when Paul had put himself in opposition to the Bulgarians, they sent this Zacharias, who had previously been sent by the lord Romanus the emperor, and he expelled Paul and himself took possession of the rule over the Serbs ; and thereupon, being mindful of the benefits of the emperor of the Romans, he broke with the Bulgarians, being not at all wishful to be subjected to them, but rather that the emperor of the Romans should be his master. And so, when Symeon sent against him an army under Marmaim and Sigritzis Theodore, he sent their heads and their armour from the battle to the emperor of the Romans as tokens of his victory (for the war was still going on between the Romans and the Bulgarians) ; nor did he ever cease, just as the princes also that were before him had been used to send missions to the emperors of the Romans, to be in subjection and servitude to them.

Again, Symeon sent another army against prince Zacharias, under Kninos and Himnikos and Itzboklias, and together with them he sent also Tzeeslav. Then Zacharias took fright and fled to Croatia, and the Bulgarians sent a message to the 'zupans' that they should come to them and should receive Tzeeslav for their prince ; and, having tricked them by an oath and brought them out as far as the first village, they instantly bound them, and entered Serbia and took away with them the entire folk, both old and young, and carried them into Bulgaria, though a few escaped away and entered Croatia ; and the country was left deserted. Now, at that time these same Bulgarians under Alogobotour entered Croatia to make war, and there they were all slain by the Croats. Seven years afterwards Tzeeslav escaped from the Bulgarians with four others, and entered Serbia from Preslav, and found in the country no more than fifty men only, without wives or children, who supported themselves by hunting. With these he took possession of the country and sent a message to the emperor of the Romans asking for his support and succour, and promising to serve him and be obedient to his command, as had been the princes before him.

And thenceforward the emperor of the Romans continually benefited him, so that the Serbs living in Croatia and Bulgaria and the rest of the countries, whom Symeon had scattered, rallied to him when they heard of it. Moreover, many had escaped from Bulgaria and entered Constantinople, and these the emperor of the Romans clad and comforted and sent to Tzeeslav. And from the rich gifts of the emperor of the Romans he organized and populated the country, and is, as before, in servitude and subjection to the emperor of the Romans; and through the co-operation and many benefits of the emperor he has united this country and is confirmed in the rule of it. The prince of Serbia has from the beginning, that is, ever since the reign of Heraclius the emperor, been in servitude and submission to the emperor of the Romans, and was never subject to the prince of Bulgaria. In baptized Serbia are the inhabited cities of Destinikon, Tzernabouskei, Megyretous, Dresneik, Lesnik, Salines ; and in the territory of Bosona, Katera and Desnik.

As Christians, the Serbs were regarded as a "protected people" under Ottoman law but in practice were treated as second-class citizens and often harshly treated. They were subjected to considerable pressure to convert to Islam; some did, while others migrated to the north and west, to seek refuge in Austria-Hungary.

At the beginning of the 20th century, many Serbs were still under foreign rule – that of the Ottomans in the south and of the Austrians in the north and west. The southern Serbs were liberated in the First Balkan War of 1912, while the question of Austrian Serbs' independence was the spark that lit the First World War two years later. A Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip killed the Austro-Hungarian archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, initiating a chain of declarations of war that produced a continent-wide conflict. During the war, the Serbian army fought fiercely, eventually retreated through Albania to regroup in Greece and launched a counter-offensive through Macedonia. Though they were eventually victorious, the war devastated Serbia and killed a huge proportion of its population – by some estimates, over the half of the male Serbian population died in the conflict, influencing the region's demographics to this day.

After the war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later called Yugoslavia) was created. Almost all Serbs now finally lived in one state. The new state had its capital in Belgrade and was ruled by a Serbian king; it was, however, unstable and prone to ethnic tensions. An interesting, if somewhat pro-Serb, window on Yugoslavia between the wars is provided by Rebecca West's classic of travel literature, "Black Lamb & Grey Falcon".

During Second World War, the Axis Powers occupied Yugoslavia, dismembering the country. Serbia was occupied by the Germans, while in Bosnia and Croatia Serbs were put under the rule of the Italians and the fascist Ustase regime in the Independent State of Croatia. Under Ustase rule in particular, Serbs and other non-Croats were subjected to systematic genocide in which hundreds of thousands were killed.

Communist Yugoslavia collapsed in the early 1990s, with four of its six republics becoming independent states. This led to several bloody civil wars as the large Serbian communities in Croatia and Bosnia attempted to remain within Yugoslavia, which now consisted of only Serbia and Montenegro. Another war broke out in Kosovo (see Kosovo War) after years of tensions between Serbs and Albanians. About 200,000 Serbs left Croatia during the "Operation Storm" in 1995, and another 200,000 left Kosovo after the Kosovo War, and settled mostly in Central Serbia and Vojvodina as refugees.

Serbs are genetically and culturally close to the other ethnic groups inhabiting the Balkans. The Serbs emanated in patriarchal tribal organizations (zadrugas, see also Roman pater familias), with the Serb clan system surviving to this day, similarly maintained by Montenegrins but also in Montenegrin Bosniaks, Gheg Albanians and ManioteGreeks. This type of structure was initially part of the Serbian medieval society (feudalism), evolved to the zadruga system that declined in the late 19th century.

The Lapot and Krvna Osveta are practices which are of ancient characteristics registered in Serbian society.

Rascians, referring to the population of medieval Serb state Rascia (the one and same people as the other tribes of Duklja (Dukljans), Travunija (Travunians), Pagania (Neretvians/Paganians), Zahumlje (Zahumlians) that all belong to the Serb ethnos, initially also referring to Bosnia (Bosnians).

Triballians, a Thracian tribe assimilated by the local Slavs, by Byzantine and Greek authors.

The Serbs are part of the autochthonous Dinaric-North Mediterranean anthropological groups.

The genetics of Serbs are similar to the neighbouring peoples of the Balkan peninsula because of common origin in several Paleo-Balkan tribes previously (now extinct) inhabiting the Balkans, such as Thracians, Illyrians, Dacians, etc.[16]

Haplogroup E-V13 (E-M78 lineage) has an overall distribution of 19.6% in the Balkan peoples and is estimated to be 4.1-4.7 ky BP old originating in the Balkans.[17]

In a report on "Frequencies of mtDNA Haplogroups in Southeastern Europe" which had samples of Macedonians, Macedonian Romani, Serbians, Croatians from mainland and coast, Herzegovinians, Bosnians, Slovenians, Poles and Russians. The analysis on Serbians showed Haplogroup H: 41%, Haplogroup U5: 9.4%, Haplogroups J and U4: 6.8%, most similar to the frequencies in ethnic Macedonians.[18]

The subclade E1b1b1a2-V13 is present at higher frequencies among the Albanians, Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians and lower numbers in southern Italians (up to 20-45%). Subclade J2f1 is at 12.5% in Serbs and Slavic Macedonians. I2a2-M423 is at 29-32% in Serbs and Macedonians and 42% in Croats, as low as 3% in Macedonian Roma, as high as 63% in Herzegovinians. The R1a (common in Slavic groups) is the same in Macedonians and Serbs at 15% and close to Bulgarians at 14%, Greeks and Herzegovinians at 12%, notable gap between the Albanians (7%) and Croats (25%), non-Balkan populations of Cypriots at 6% and Ukrainians at 45%. The most common western European haplogroup R1b values in Serbs are 10.6%, in Cypriots 9% being the lowest in Europe, the highest values being Basques 92% and 89% in Welsh, medium values 56% in French.[19]

The R-U106 (and R-U198 sublineage), a major Germanic lineage is at 0.6% in Balkan Slavs and 0.5% in Greeks with the highest frequencies in Netherlands at 36.8% and Austria-Germany at 20.9%. The R-M269(xL23)is most frequent in the Balkans, existent in all Balkan peoples except mainland Croats.[20]

Bosnian Serbs are closer to Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) than to Bosnian Croats, the J haplogroup is 15.3% in Serbs and 12% in Bosniaks and almost non-existent among Croats. I-P37 is higher in Croats (71%) than in Serbs (31%) and Bosniaks (44%). Hg E, almost exclusively represented by its subclade E-M78, is more common in the Serbs (~20%) than in Bosniaks (~13%) and Croats (~9%), and Hg J, observed in only one Croat, encompasses ~9% of the Serbs and ~12% of the Bosniaks, where it shows its highest diversification. By contrast, Hg R-M17 displays similar frequencies in all three groups. On the whole, the three main groups of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in spite of some quantitative differences, share a large fraction of the same ancient gene pool distinctive for the Balkan area.[21][22]

Genetic studies conclude that Serbs are of predominantly Balkan genetics (indigenous to the region[23][24]) and have very small amount of generally considered "Slavic" (Predominant in West Slavic nations; R-M458, ranging from 0-12% in the Serbs, Albanians, Macedonians, Greeks and Bulgarians[25]) genes showing that Slavs (White Serbs according to national myth/historical sources[5]) mixed with the RomanizedPaleo-Balkan peoples of the conquered region (Serbian lands) and made the Slavic culture and language dominant in the ethnogenesis of the people.
Thus, Serbs are mainly descendants of Paleo-Balkan peoples previously known as Dacians, Illyrians and Thracians.[16]

^[1] as seen in the passing of the oldest [12,000ypb] paternal ancestral R1a1 genes in Europe among the Serbs, Macedonians and Greeks in relation to the rest of Europe where the common ancestor is only 4,000ypb old: "where the common
ancestor is significantly more ancient, about
11,650±1,550 ybp... ...This
mutation has continued to be passed down through the
generations to the present time"